Provision-safe



J. H. STEPHENS.

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Patented Nov. 21, 1893.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JAMES HOWELL STEPHENS, OF MEXIA, TEXAS.

PROVISION-SAFE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 509,262, dated November 21, 1893.

Application filed July 29, 1893.

.To and whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES HOWELL STE- PHENS, acitizen of the United States, residing at Mexia, in the county of Limestone and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Provision-Safes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of thisspecification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The present invention has relation to that class of provision safes or devices for keeping cool or at a certain temperature articles of food in which is used a jacket of absorbent material inclosing a suitable frame provided with shelves for supporting the articles of food, and a vat for containing water and supplying it to the jacket by capillary action whereby the temperature is reduced through the process of evaporation.

It is the purpose of the present invention to improve the construction of this class of provision safes or devices whereby its usefulness is materially enhanced and its value increased, as will be hereinafter described and subsequently claimed.

Figure 1 of the drawings represents a longitudinal vertical section of a provision safe or other device for keeping cool articles of food which is constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 a transverse section thereof.

In the accompanying drawings A represents a frame of any suitable form of construction and of any suitable size and maybe provided with any number of shelves B either solid or formed of slats as shown and may be permanently fixed to the frame or made removable Serial No. 481,821. (No model.)

the frame A to catch the drippings from the jacket 0 and a water vat E is provided for containing the water to be taken up by capillary action or absorption and in the process of evaporation cool the air in the safe and therefore retain the articles of food at the required temperature to prevent them from spoiling and render them palatable when brought on the table for consumption. The vat E may be of any suitable shape but preferably rectangular as shown, but the form of the vat will depend entirely upon the form or shape of the frame A. The trough D which is of metal has drip-facings 1) against which the lower edge of the jacket comes in contact so that the moisture descending from the fabric of which the jacket is composed, will be guided into the trough. The lower one of the shelves B has a covering G of textile fabric so as to close thebottom of the frameAortogether with the jacket 0 form a complete envelope for the safe. This covering G I term a supplemental jacket and it receives its moisture from contact with the lower edge of the jacket 0 and rests against the drip-facings b so that by capillary action the moisture will be distributed over the covering or jacket G. The supplemental jacket G is held I in place by the same pins that hold the jacket 0 over the frame and like the former it may be removed when desired. A retaining-rod F is provided so as to hold the jacket down into the vat E at all times so that it will always be in contact with the water. After the upper portion of the jacket 0 is placed in the vat E, the retaining rod F is placed down into the vat and over the jacket and the ends of the rod passed under the cleats'or projections c which will hold it securely in place. The jacket being thus held firmly in place within the vat, the sides of the jacket can be tightly drawn down over the sides of the frame and held in place by the pins which is a decided advantage both in retaining the jacket at all times in contact with the water in the vat by means of the retaining rod, and also enabling thejacket to be tightly drawn around the frame.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

D 1. A provision safe or device for cooling armoles of food, consisting of a suitable frame provided with shelves, a jacket of absorbent material inclosing the frame, a vat for Water 1n which the upper portion of the jacket is submerged, and a retaining rod and cleats upon the interior of the vat to hold thejacket down into the same, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. A provision safe or device for cooling artlcles of food, consisting of a suitable frame, shelves arranged therein, a trough connected to the sides of the frame, a vat for Water and means for holding the jacket down in the vat, and a supplemental jacket secured over the lower one of the shelves, substantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony that I claim the above I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two Witnesses.

JAMES HOWELL STEPHENS.

Witnesses:

J. H. VICKERS, H. O. PHILPOTT. 

